Where are my electrically competent people out there?

I'm going to be installing an electric pop & lock tailgate lock, but I'm going to be doing a little bit of a mod. Instead of splicing it into my driver side or passenger side door. I want to run it to a switch where I can decide when and when not to lock it. I don't want it to lock every time I lock my vehicle doors. What I have is a momentary (ON)off(ON) single-pole, double-throw switch, the lock itself, and a fuse to connect to the battery. The only thing is, I don't fully grasp electrical stuff so a little help is needed. Coming from the lock itself is 2 wires. Blue and Green. I assume these are both hot as one is to lock and the other is to turn the solenoid back (This is also where I think I might be getting things confused). These are normally to be spliced into the driver's side door lock. I'm NOW sending these to the switch. Then I have a positive wire coming from truck battery to a fuse, then to the switch. The only thing I don't get is where is the ground. I assumed it would have come from the lock itself and have 3 wires but instead, there are just 2. Before I start running everything I want to fully understand it. What am I missing? I drew a picture to help illustrate what I'm saying. Any and all help please and thank you.

 

I would assume you need to add some grounds as well.

 

Maybe the lock is grounded directly to the metal tailgate through the mounting bolts/screws. I'd guess there is enough metal to metal contact in the tailgate hinges to ground it to the rest of the body.

On the other hand, the locks (like power windows) might use a system where the polarity is reversed on the 2 wires depending on which way you are going. One is positive and the other ground (negative) when you are locking and they are switched when unlocking. If that's the case then you need a more sophisticated switch. A wiring diagram of the lock switch might help you sort this out.

 

I was thinking about the first part that you said. Because the lock is metal and is screwed down to metal. Now on your second part. Im not exactly understanding. I understand about polarity (kinda). What kind of switch would I need for that?

 

With a power window there is one electric motor. It spins up or down depending on if you give the wires positive/negative or negative/positive voltage.

The power door locks also use a motor, and this trunk lock probably does too. Apply positive to one wire and ground the other it will lock. Reverse that and it will unlock. I'm not sure exactly how yours works. I'm just speculating. If it works like this I'm not sure what kind of switch you would need.

 

Do you not have any schematics for the locking device ??

With out knowing just what you have kinda hard to figure not having it in front of me

When the door switches are in the closed position (door open) it allows the circuit to ground.

So in theory with the circuit open (doors Closed ) your lock should be in the locked position .

Your switch will need to act in the same fashion .

I don`t think a momentary switch will work working with the data provided .

It all comes down to just how the lock itself works

 

No there are no schematics. This solenoid is what is powering this. I was in the thought that it needs to power the lock. It also needs something to tell it to go the other way(unlock). And it cant be constantly on or would burn out the motor. So an On/Off switch would not work as on would constantly be on and then there is no way to switch the lock in the other direction. So the momentary would allow power to lock (switch pushed one way) and then would reset itself. And then unlock (switch pushed other way) and then reset. My understanding was that the momentary would give power just for that second as to not make it constant. I hope this makes sense

 

Disclosure: I have not wired up a tailgate pop-n-lock...however,

I think Dr Z is one the mark. This is what I had to do on the winch on my ATV. I lost the wireless remote and had to remove the circuit board and use a switch.
I used a DPDT switch to get reverse polarity and drive the motor in opposite directions. See "Step 5" wiring diagram in the 1st link.

https://www.instructables.com/id/HOW-TO%3a-Wire-a-DPDT-rocker-switch-for-reversing-po/

Amazon of course has what you need if you try this method.

IndusTec DPDT 20 AMP 12V 6 Pin (on) / Off / (on) Momentary Rocker Switch Continuous Polarity 3 Position Automatic Reset

https://www.amazon.com/IndusTec-Mom...7&sprefix=single+pole+double+,aps,267&sr=8-12

 

Are these your instructions?
https://vehiclesecurityinnovators.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/PL8535-Toyota-Tacoma-Tundra.pdf

 

Someone needs to post the wiring diagram of the 2001 power door locks, then we can see how the wiring and switch works.

 

not exactly but very similiar

 

So doing some research. It looks like a "power door lock actuator" looks exactly like the actuator to my pop & lock. It even has two cords like mine. So with that said. I'm guessing I'm going to need one of those momentary DPDT reverse polaroid switches.

 

I would call the manufacturer Ask for tech support and ask them for info on the solenoid operation or a schematic for it showing polarity, or at least have them tell you how it operates and if polarity reverses on lock/unlock, what the polarity needs to be on the wires to lock and unlock, if it uses case ground. etc. tell them you want to operate it with a switch of some type.

 

will do. I guess nothing better than hearing it from the horse's mouth.

 

Yeah a few electrical types here but unless someone knows this device comes in here we can’t help a lot, sorry.

If you can’t get their help one way to find out is whatever connector/pins they say to connect to, you might disconnect it and measure voltage at those pins/wires while operating the door locks if that’s the connector used.

 

Sounds like you want a three position switch. Like a winch switch, up/neutral/down. Or in your case lock/neutral/unlock. A momentary would be possible but some more circuitry and chips would be needed and I don’t think it’s worth the trouble.

Edit: yeah as others said above a DPDT. The factory door switch might also work but I’m not familiar with the wiring. Would need to see a diagram

 

yes but in that case/ like the winch. when its on. its always on. that's fine for the motor of a winch but not a door actuator. that would would burn it out. A momentary would just power only when pressed and then goes back to off when released which is all I think I would need as it only takes a moment to lock or unlock a door.

 

Yes. Wsider1 is pretty smart though the switch he selected and linked to I looked at the wiring diagram, it’s a six pole DPDT momentary and could be wired to reverse the polarity of two wires if needed, assuming it’s a momentary operation solenoid arrangement.

 

So I'd be surprised if that were a solenoid. That round thing potruding from the side looks an awful lot like a motor.

I'm in the camp of switching polarity to lock and unlock. What you're going to need is a DPDT switch that is (ON)-OFF-(ON) (the ( ) around the ON means its momentary in those positions). Then you'll wire it so that one of the wires gets +12V and the other gets GND when the switch is one way, and then the opposite way for the other direction.

You could potentially burn it up if you held it one way or the other, but I would be surprised if the actuator didn't have some protection in it.

 

well. I already have the momentary switch. I just ordered the dpdt reverse polarity switch. was like $7. No biggie. I was just going to install the lock. Run the wire to the hood loosely. Connect a fuse to the battery and just hook up everything outside to the dpdt reverse polarity switch just to make sure it works. If that doesn't then it won't be hard to at least test the first momentary switch I have. If that doesn't work. It's all your faults